The Two-Way

7:40 am

Mon March 11, 2013

In Ohio, Town Mourns Death Of Six Teens Killed In Crash

Friends and family of the six teenagers killed in a car crash brought stuffed animals and other memorials to the site Sunday in Warren, Ohio.

Scott R. GalvinAP

Warren, Ohio, is in mourning after the deaths of six teenagers who died Sunday when the SUV they were in ran off a highway, flipped over a guardrail and landed in a small pond.

"It's going to be a rough week, a rough rest of the school year," said Michael Notar, Warren school superintendent, as NBC News reports.

From Youngstown, Ohio, The Vindicator writes that "according to the [Ohio State Highway Patrol], the Honda SUV was traveling south at a high rate of speed in a 35-mph zone before it veered left, hit a guardrail and went over the guardrail and into a small pond on the east side of the road at approximately 6:50 a.m. Sunday."

There were eight teenagers in the vehicle — seven boys and the driver, a 19-year-old girl. The boys' ages ranged from 14 to 18. The two boys who survived are both 15 years old.

Authorities, according to The Vindicator, are awaiting the results of toxicology tests to determine if drugs or alcohol played a role in the crash.

CBS News reports that State Highway Patrol Lt. Brian Holt said the vehicle, owned by a resident of Youngstown, had been taken without the owner's permission. It adds that:

"Officials opened a school where several of the victims attended to provide counseling for families Sunday night. Superintendent Michael Notar called the crowded closed-door session heartbreaking and said counselors would be available Monday in schools. ...

"[At the crash site] a pile of blue, green and copper-red stuffed bears grew at a makeshift memorial."